Toy racetracks are popular among children of varied ages, and a variety of track configurations have previously been provided that include various features, such as traps, loops, stunts, and the like to add to the excitement a child experiences while playing with the toy. For instance, toy racetracks have been provided having varied track sections and obstacles that intersect a toy vehicle's path as it traverses the track loops and that can vary position or orientation during or resulting from interaction with a toy vehicle.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,519,789 to Halford et al. discloses a toy racetrack having a swinging hoop through which a toy vehicle must pass as it traverses the racetrack.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 7,628,674 to Nuttall et al. discloses a toy racetrack including gauntlet features intersecting the toy vehicle's path and that, when triggered, may project the toy vehicle away from the track or move to capture the toy vehicle at a specific location along the track.
Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 7,637,796 to Hippely discloses a toy racetrack including an obstacle positioned within the toy vehicle path that may be selectively deployed to obstruct the toy vehicle.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 7,819,720 to Nuttall et al. discloses a toy racetrack including an indexing stunt selector that places differing stunt elements into the path of the toy vehicle in response to the toy vehicle passing over elements of the racetrack.
Still further, U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2011/0294396 of O'Connor et al. discloses a toy racetrack having a capture device that captures a toy vehicle as it travels along a specific one of multiple toy vehicle paths.
The specifications of each of the foregoing are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.
While the foregoing configurations do provide varied obstacle and stunt features, there remains an ongoing need to provide toy racetrack features capable of maintaining the interest of a child and increasing the excitement and amusement they experience when playing with a toy racetrack. It would therefore be advantageous to provide a toy racetrack that further enhances the excitement and amusement offered to a child as they engage in such play, and more particularly that includes a user-manipulated obstacle that requires the user to properly time the positioning or orientation of the obstacle and that will allow a toy vehicle to continue through the track if the positioning or orienting of the obstacle is not properly timed.